Aims of Footpaths

We designed Footpaths with four main aims:

We want to help people reduce their carbon footprints because of climate change

We want to support people to become less oil dependent because of peak oil.

We want to give people an awareness of – and some skills to deal with – the interactions which go on in groups, so that if they choose to continue as a group after the initial meetings, things are likely to go well.

We want to help people to build themselves communities.

We think these aims are linked – that building communities and getting better at living and working with other people will help us to reduce our carbon footprints, and that becoming less oil dependent will push us towards lower footprints and more sustainable and co-operative living.

Making changes with other people who are doing the same is easier and more fun than doing it alone and sometimes simply knowing others are going through the same process helps us to keep going. Some changes can be made much more easily by a group which supports each other – for example you can share ideas, sympathy, excitement, tools and skills, recipes and researching information. Having a community – or being part of many communities – makes us happier than when we live isolated separate lives. It also makes us stronger and more able to cope and adapt in times of change. With climate change and peak oil occurring, we are going to need this resilience and joy in life.